House Of Cards || NCT Mafia

Chapter seventy : A triggering past (1)

Dream didn't spend the evening with Iseul, and she supposed they had been sent on a mission, that was probably the reason why Taeyong wanted them in his office in the first place. She had been spending time with YangYang and the other members of WayV in the common area before dinner, and she discovered that Sicheng, Ten, Kun and Lucas were also part of the unit.

What she didn't know was that the leader also asked to see Sicheng later in the evening.

"You wanted to see me?" the Chinese male asked.

"Yes," Taeyong replied. "I want you to train Iseul."

Sicheng's face showed his surprise, "You want me to train her?"

"She's skilled, but she could use some practice, I'll ask Mark and Jeno to help you as well," the leader announced. "She could be useful later if she's trained correctly."

"As you wish," he said. "What about the rising gang?" he asked. "Do we have something new on them?"

Taeyong sighed, "No. Jaehyun and Lucas are trying to get information about it, but it seems no one lives long enough to tell anything about them."

"Still the same signature?"

"A middle finger, yes," Taeyong said, his tone dry. "If I want to have an official statement from the State admitting that they're back, that would give me the authority I need to wipe them off the map."

His left hand was clenched in a fist, and the paper he was holding was now completely torn. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find something we can use to show the State," the youngest tried to reassure.

Taeyong nodded, "In the meantime, I want her training to start tomorrow."

"Alright, do you want me to go tell her?"

"No," Taeyong said. "I'll do it myself."

He got up and went upstairs to find Iseul, and got in her room, but she wasn't there. Suddenly, the door leading to her personal bathroom revealed the girl with just a towel around her body and her hair wet, indicating she just got out of the shower.

She screamed and tried to hide the parts of her body that were exposed with the soft material but ended up running back to the bathroom before slamming the door shut. Taeyong hadn't moved an inch, too shocked to do anything besides covering his eyes, and his ears turned red in embarrassment.

"I own the place my ass!" he heard the girl yell, her voice muffled by the door. "That's why you should always knock first!"

He tried to apologize after clearing his throat but Iseul didn't let him speak. "I don't care whether you boys don't mind running into each other half-naked, but I'd like some privacy!"

"Uhm, sorry," he spoke as he smoothed his shirt.

After a few minutes, Iseul came out, this time with clothes on, and she faced Taeyong with her arms crossed on her chest.

"So," she began, "what was so important you barged in here?"

The leader cleared his throat again, "I asked Sicheng to train you so you can develop your fighting skills, Mark and Jeno will also teach you a few things. Practice starts at six am sharp, so don't be late," he said in a monotonous tone, already reaching the door.

"Wait," she spoke, "six am? Why so early?" she whined at the idea of getting up before the sun.

"Because you'll be more focused, and because I said so," he retorted. "Let me remind you that this is not a hotel, and that you're not on vacation."

"I never said I was!" she fought back. But Taeyong wasn't listening. In fact, he wasn't even looking at her anymore, his eyes glued on something else, but Iseul didn't notice that.

A small object on the bedside table behind the girl had caught his attention, and now a thousand emotions were flooding over him, almost drowning him. He had trouble breathing, and Iseul looked at him, worried.

"Is everything alright?" she asked as Taeyong's face was getting paler by the second.

"Take it out of my sight," he whispered, almost begging.

Iseul just frowned, confused. She turned around to try to understand what the reason of his state was, and her eyes finally landed on the small bracelet on the table.

"Take it out of my sight, now!" Taeyong repeated this time yelling, making her jump.

She quickly grabbed the piece of jewelry before putting it in a drawer, not knowing what else to do with it. As soon as it was out of his sight like he had asked, Taeyong's face returned a normal color, and he seemed to be breathing fine.

"Six tomorrow morning, not a second late," he said harshly, before almost running out of the room, leaving as fast as he came.

Mark was right when he had told Iseul that Taeyong would freak out if he saw the bracelet, but she didn't think it'd be that bad. The piece of jewelry literally triggered something in him, and she definitely didn't like it. Taeyong was scary when he was like this.

After he left, Iseul looked through the clothes Johnny had bought for her to see if he had prepared a few things she could wear for a physical activity, and she was relieved to see that he did.

Looking at the time, she realized it wasn't too late and that she could go read a few chapters of the book she had started to read. She was sure Taeyong went back to work, as the Dreamies told her he always worked late at night once, and she grabbed her glasses before closing the door.

Iseul lost track of time the moment she took a seat in the chair, a book in her hand, and she spent hours reading, forgetting about the fact that she was supposed to wake up before dawn.

She was done with her book and was ready to choose another one when her eyes landed on the clock above the fireplace and she realized it was really late. Well, really early actually. She put back the book she was about to open and decided to go to bed, hoping she'd still get enough sleep before practice in a few hours.

But as she walked by Taeyong's office, the sound of something breaking made her stop in her tracks.

What was that?

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I hope you're ready for some angst